The European Commission said today that it will recover €54.3 million of Common Agriculture Policy funds unduly spent by Member States  under the so-called clearance of accounts procedure.

The amount to be recovered from Malta will be €1,520.

As some of these amounts have already been recovered from the Member States, the financial impact is somewhat lower at €54.3 million, the commission said.

This money returns to the EU budget because of non-compliance with EU rules or inadequate control procedures on agricultural expenditure. Member States are responsible for paying out and checking expenditure under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the Commission is required to ensure that Member States have made correct use of the funds.

Under this latest decision, funds will be recovered from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The most significant individual corrections are:

In Malta's case, funds will be recovered for Cross-compliance - correction proposed for financial years 2006 and 2007 with regard to Statutory Management Requirements 7-8 for non-achievement of the minimum control rate and for ineffective checking of Good Agricultural and Environment Conditions.

The recovery from Malta will amount to just €1,520, a commission spokesman said.

The bulk of the funds will be recovered as follows:

€ 29.8 million (financial impact: €29.5 million) charged to UK for weaknesses in their sanctioning system and for inadequately implemented Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and Good Agricultural and Environment Conditions (GAEC) with regard to cross-compliance;

€ 27.3 million (financial impact: 0) charged to Italy with regard to late payments to farmers;€ 21.5 million charged to Italy for the weaknesses in the controls of mills and compatibility of yields for olive oil;

€14.6 million (financial impact: €14.5 million) charged to the Netherlands for a deficient sanctioning system and lack of control of certain Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs) and Good Agricultural and Environment Conditions (GAEC) with regard to cross-compliance.